


A Field Trip

by TheRandomPhan



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Field Trip, Gen, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:08:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27098632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRandomPhan/pseuds/TheRandomPhan
Summary: Danny's class goes on a trip to the Grand Canyon. It's all fun and games until suddenly it isn't. (Ch 1 For Ectober Day 16- Trip)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 171





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna apologize right up for any inaccuracies, I never went on an overnight field trip or to the grand canyon, so some of this I'm just pulling out of thin air. This plot bunny for this actually popped into my head like three years ago during class, and I've just now gotten around to finalizing it, lol. I also wrote this chapter a couple of months ago so the writing might get better as it goes on! Enjoy!

Danny's heart was attempting to rip itself out of his ribcage and the wind whistled past his ringing ears. The only thing in view was the fast-approaching ground, and the only sounds besides the wind were the screams of a certain Dash Baxter. Not for the first time in his life, Danny wondered how he'd gotten where he was.

* * *

It had all started a month ago, in Lancer's English class.

"Alright everyone, I need your attention," Lancer called. People wrapped up their conversations, though begrudgingly, and others took out their earbuds and put away their school laptops. The rest of the class period had been a study hall since Lancer was still grading essays from their last test and didn't have anything new for them to do. At least until he got a gauge of how well they all did. Basically, no one was happy to listen to the teacher but they did so anyway.

"I have some news that you'll probably like, believe it or not. Your grade is going on a field trip next month to the Grand Canyon." As soon as those last two words had escaped Lancer's mouth whispers started being traded like candy. Almost everyone was leaning over to their friends to ask who even knew what kind of questions, but sadly Danny was on his own in this class.

Lancer rolled his eyes but allowed them to continue speaking as he retrieved a stack of packets from his desk.

"Daniel, would you help me pass these out?" Lancer asked out of the blue.

"Sure," Danny said as he got up from his seat. He almost tripped over someone's backpack in the middle of the aisle and sent the owner a glare, but it went unseen. Despite the roadblock, he managed to reach Lancer without face planting and took half of the packets. Lancer went to the other side of the room so Danny started passing them out where he was standing. He counted out three packets for each row, so they could pass them to the person behind. He did, however, take a moment to place one on his own desk himself.

As Danny walked around the room he could now hear the gossip, and let himself listen in a bit. It wasn’t like he was listening behind their backs, they could clearly see him and if they happened to be walking about sensitive stuff when he was around that was their fault. So, he eavesdropped.

"Do you want to ask if we can be roommates?" Paulina asked Star at the front of the room. They were too popular to be at the back, of course. They wouldn’t get called out no matter how far they were from Lancer, they were cheerleaders and important. ‘If they were so important, why don’t they fight off the ghosts?’ Danny thought grimly. He knew the answer of course, but it was a funny thing to imagine. Paulina would probably accidentally shoot herself with the lipstick blaster.

"Do you think your mom will let you go?" Nathaniel said to a guy named Alex. They were well-meaning enough, both band geeks. They talked about anime Danny didn’t recognize a lot and the halfa didn’t pay them much attention.

"There's no way I can save that much up with a month's notice," Said a girl named Faith dejectedly. That made Danny concerned, and he really hoped it didn't cost as much to go as Faith was making it out to be. He wasn’t sure if his parents would pay for it for him or not.

Danny made it halfway across the room before he met with Lancer and wordlessly handed the extra packets to his teacher before heading back to his seat. The backpack was still in the middle of the aisle and Danny wondered if anyone would even notice if he just.. flew over it. They were distracted, he could get away with it. But Danny's feet remained firmly on the ground and he plopped down in his seat. Danny’s eyes wanted desperately to glaze over at the infodump but he persisted, reading despite the fact he really didn’t want to.

The packet went over a lot but basically, it said that students needed to be at the school at 9 on the 12th of April, and that the trip cost $150 but that included everything like food and the hotel. It wasn’t that bad of a price, Danny decided. He was sure he could work out something with his parents to get them to let him go.

Below that information was a recommended list of supplies and on the next page was just a list of rules and things of that sort that Danny's eyes just glazed over. A grin began to spread across Danny's face as he thought of the fun he’d be able to have on the trip. But the grin was immediately smacked off his face and replaced by a sinking feeling of dread and sadness as he realized something. He couldn't leave Amity unprotected from the ghosts, especially if Valerie was going as well and the huntress wouldn't be around.

* * *

Almost a month later Danny was being practically shoved onto a bus by Sam, with Tucker backing her up.

“Sam,” Danny complained as he dug his feet into the pavement.

“Danny,” The goth retorted with a frown. They’d been having this argument from the moment Danny had found out Valerie wasn’t going on the trip and would be staying in Amity and thus able to (most likely) handle the ghost attacks.

“This isn’t fair on her.” Danny’s face drew into a tight expression and he used just a touch of intangibility to escape from Sam’s grip around his arm. It spoke volumes that Sam didn’t shudder at the cold feeling, or even notice it in any way. It was crazy how mundane such things had become.

“Danny, Valerie will be fine.” Tucker chimed in.  
“She has the fancy suit, which, might I add, is more than you have. And despite how much we hate the fruit loop she probably has his support if things get too out of hand.” He reasoned. He’d already stated that argument at least four times, each time Danny had tried to talk them out of it. And Danny was about to state his rebuttal for the fifth time when Sam added;

“And your parents are around. They might not catch the ghosts but they’re likely to scare them off,” They all knew that Danny’s parents were horrible ghost hunters, but they sure were pretty good repellant, especially if his dad was driving.

As the trio bickered, teenagers moved around them. Most of their grade was present, with the only notable exclusions for Danny being Valerie and Alex. The mood in the school parking lot was surprisingly chipper, though of course there were the exceptions of those who hadn’t had their coffee yet or were clutching it in their hands like letting go would sign their death warrant. There was also one guy who chugged his entire cup because he couldn’t take it on the bus and may or may not have thrown up on the grass. Take three guesses as to who that red-head was, and the first two don’t count.

Along with the teens themselves came their luggage. There were varying levels of preparedness among them, but most students were either carrying everything but the kitchen sink or a single toothbrush, their wallet, and maybe an extra t-shirt. Tucker mostly belonged to the second category, except he seemed to have brought every electronic in his house. He had a laptop, two PDAs (both paid off, of course), his cell phone, headphones, earbuds, wireless earbuds, and probably five different chargers that went to who knows what. Danny had a light daypack full of all his stuff, the most important mentions being his phone, charger, and a relatively reasonable amount of clothing for the trip. At least, for a teenage boy. Sam belonged to the over-prepared, carrying a (more-than) first-aid kit, two outfits for each day, sunglasses, and other things like that were mostly just knick-knacks and things to keep herself occupied. She was also carrying an awfully heavy book from Skulk-and-Lurk that Danny was afraid she would smack him over the head with if he didn’t get on the bus.

It wasn’t the bus itself that Danny objected to, of course. Surprisingly for the cheapskate standards their school seemed to have (the Lunch Lady incident a prime example) they weren’t just going to shove the kids onto a normal school bus for the long drive. They’d sprung for coach busses that each looked to have nice comfy seats and their own bathrooms. So no, that wasn’t what Danny was opposed to.

“Danny, we already talked this through. It’s already been paid, so just getting on the bus. When’s the last time you went on vacation?” Sam said, exasperated. Danny went to reply but was interrupted.

“You better not be about to say that trip you went on when Youngblood followed you, that doesn’t count.” Sam glared at him and Danny shut up because that was exactly what he was going to say. Truly he wanted to go on the trip, he really did. But his throat was clogged with a deep sense of guilt that was already making him feel queasy, and he hadn’t even left Amity yet. And it wasn’t even just his human half objecting, his core was throbbing in time with his heartbeat and the blood rushing to his ears. Sam and Tucker must’ve seen the sickly look on Danny’s face and stopped speaking. Their words had just been going over Danny’s head anyways.

Tucker, not Sam this time, lightly grabbed Danny’s wrist and the trio went around the back of the bus to the other side which had many fewer ears that might choose to listen in on their conversation.

“Is this a ghost thing?” Tucker asked, his tone light and inviting. Not for the first time, Danny realized that he really didn’t deserve friends like these. They were too good for him.

“Hey, get that look off your face, what’s wrong?” Sam snapped her fingers to draw the halfa’s attention. She was looking at him with that face, her lips drawn tight, her eyes narrowed, and one eyebrow raised. She expected him to answer.

“I-” He faltered. Danny wasn’t exactly sure how to explain exactly what he was feeling. Surely if it was anyone else Danny would have even less of an idea on how to explain, but these two were his best friends. They knew him better than he knew himself, sometimes.  
“My core hurts, kinda." Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  
"Even just thinking about leaving makes me feel sick. I felt it before but now that we’re actually about to leave it’s just aching. And I feel like I’m gonna throw up like Wes did.” Danny explained. The mention of it made the feeling worse and he couldn’t meet his friends’ eyes as the sensation drew all of his attention.

“Do you know why it’s hurting? Is it because it doesn’t want you to leave Amity?” Sam theorized. Danny nodded in response. He didn’t know how he knew that, logically, but it was just like he knew. His core wanted him to know it was upset. We can’t protect them if we go, we need to protect. Stay. Stay. It chanted.

“We won’t be leaving it completely unprotected, Danny. If worst comes to worst Jazz can do something. And Valerie isn’t half bad, she can handle herself for a few days.” Tucker reasoned. Danny felt better, but still a bit dizzy.

“And we’ll only be gone for a few days. You can fly back here in only a few hours if something happens. Plus we can watch the news and see if anything goes on that will need your help. Amity Park isn’t completely helpless.” Said Sam. That made Danny feel a lot better. Sure he’d get in a lot of trouble for leaving the trip but it wasn’t like he was going halfway across the globe, at his fastest speed he could be back in no time! His core still felt displeased but Danny felt at least well enough to go, now. He finally raised his gaze from his shoes and smiled weakly at his friends. Before they saw what he was doing Danny wrapped them both in a bear hug. Hey, he was his father’s son after all.

“Thanks, guys. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.” Danny squeezed before letting them go.

“You’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere,” Tucker joked with an aura of nonchalance.

“Tucker!” SHouted Sam and socked Tucker in the shoulder. This only made Tucker laugh and soon Danny was chuckling as well.

"There, you’re already feeling better! And if it takes getting beat up by Sam we’ll get you on the bus!” Tucker exclaimed. Their resident goth just rolled her eyes. But she was still smiling.

“You two are dorks,” She said as she shook her head. With the mood successfully lightened, the trio went back to the other side of the bus and trickled onto it with the last few students. Sam’s suitcase was put with the others, but she kept a bag of entertaining stuff with her. The boys just kept their bags under their seats.

Speaking of seats, Danny, Sam, and Tucker just barely managed to get seats together. Tucker had to squeeze in at the last moment, taking a glare from one of their classmates. Sam sat between the two boys and Danny had snagged the window seat.

The trip passed with little affair. Danny was spaced out and staring out of the window with his earbuds in for quite a bit of the trip, switching it up every once in a while by playing mindless games on his phone. Tucker binged Netflix for a solid six hours, switching between Dragon Prince and The Flash for most of the trip. Sam watched some stuff with him, Tucker offering her an earbud whenever she wanted it, but she did her own thing for most of the time. She’d messed around with a Rubix cube she’d brought, failed to solve it, googled a website for the solution, and ended up reading her book for the last hour or so. She’d just gotten to a chapter on ghosts, which had laughable misinformation filling it, when the buses arrived.

* * *

The hotel the busses pulled up to was… charming? It wasn’t fancy but it wasn’t horribly run down either. ‘Holiday Inn’ the sign read. It was obviously an old design and looked nothing like the logo on the hotel just outside of Amity that sported the same name. 

Lancer, who had gotten off the bus a few minutes before check-in, walked up the stairs and stood at the front, clearing his throat to get their attention.

“Everyone make sure to grab your bags as we head in. It’s two to a room, guys with guys and girls with girls. Make sure to keep your door open until I check you off the list.” Lancer spoke and tapped his pen on his clipboard for emphasis. With that, he grabbed his own bag, a clipboard, and got off the bus. Following the teacher’s heels was twenty-something teenagers. Students were getting off of the other bus as well. Casper high was already a small school, and with the kids who couldn’t come they were able to fit them all on two busses.

Somehow the students managed to all get to the third floor using only two elevators in a reasonable amount of time. Dash, the showoff, raced up the stairs with Kwan while also carrying Paulina’s bags. And there were a lot of them. Kwan had offered to carry Star’s stuff to make it a fair race, but she surprisingly only had a small suitcase and the purse she kept on her. Dash still won though.

Danny and Tucker decided to share a room, obviously. They felt bad for excluding Sam, even if not by choice, but the goth had gotten an agreement to room with Faith’s friend, Alice, by the time they got to the right floor. She was one of the few who had at least partially agreed with Sam when she tried to change the lunch menu so Danny figured Sam would be fine. He already had half a plan to sneak Sam out of her room later so they could play Uno later.

Lancer was the first one up, or course. He'd gone around and opened all the doors, and making sure there were keycards on the dressers like there were supposed to be. Behind him students trailed into the rooms, settings down their bags, and getting settled down. Sam and Alice claimed a room and Danny moved to get the one right next to them.

The room was modest, nothing too special. The walls had a flowery wallpaper up to waist-level, where it then turned to an off-white color. The puke-green carpet looked as though it was probably a decade old, and Danny made sure to sidestep a stain right at the entrance to the bathroom. The bathroom itself was to the immediate left as soon as they entered. It had the essentials; a shower, toilet, and sink. There were also little things of shampoo, conditioner, and a little bar of soap on the counter. Nothing all that special, but it was clean. Right across from that was a closet that Danny glanced in. There were two extra blankets and an extra pillow on the shelf at the top of the closet. Two beds were set against the left wall, seemingly twin sized. That was a bit of a surprise to Danny. He didn't even know hotel rooms with twins existed, he'd only ever seen queen sized. Although he had only ever been to two hotels in his life so he didn't have a very big sample size.

As soon as the two boys entered their room Tucker dropped his bag and collapsed on the far bed. Danny snorted at his friend but went about emptying his few clothes into the dresser next to the bed Tucker wasn't currently laying on. Tucker's feigned sleep didn't last very long as the geek was soon grabbing probably about seven chargers from his bag. Danny shot him a look like 'really?"

"What?" Tucker replied.  
"I don't want any of my stuff to be dead!" He reasoned. The halfa shook his head at his friend's antics and took out his phone charger. There was a plugin in the small space between the nightstand and the twin bed so he plugged it in there. There was also a lamp there so Danny turned that on and turned off of the way-too-bright overhead light. Tucker was still getting his chargers sorted as Danny was getting out the ghost weapons he'd packed. Thank god the teachers hadn't decided to check bags or anything of that sort.

There was a loud knock on the door that scared the heck out of Danny. He went intangible on instinct for a moment and the gun dropped right from his hands. In a flash the halfa had come back to the tangible plane and grabbed the gun, making it invisible in his hands.

"Hello?" Lancer asked as rounded the corner and entered the main area of the hotel room.  
"How are you two doing?" Lancer asked, mostly as a courtesy as he marked their names off of the clipboard.

"Uh, I'm fine," Danny answered. He used his free hand to sweep his bangs from his face. Lancer nodded and looked up from his clipboard at Tucker expectedly.

"Oh, I'm pretty good." Tucker shrugged without turning around. He was trying to hide his electronics from Lancer, and Danny tried to think of a way to distract their teacher. A question he'd had for a little while popped into his head and he voiced it.

"How come you're the one handling everything? I saw Ms. Warren on the other bus but I haven't seen her since." Danny's question successfully drew Lancer's attention and he could see Tucker's tense shoulders lower a bit and he shoved his chargers back into his bag. Electronics had technically been allowed but best to be careful.

"She's busy double-checking the tickets and everything. Or so she says." Lancer said that last part under his breath.  
"I just hope the ghosts didn't follow us," He said aloud this time. Danny thought of the invisible ectogun clenched in his hand. That was some dramatic irony. Or was it situational irony? Danny really should pay more attention in Lancer's classes.

"So do I." Said Danny. He didn't need to fake the grim look on his face.


	2. Falling For You (Accidentally)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never actually been to the Grand Canyon so I'm making this up as I go.

Three hours later Danny was on his phone texting Sam. It was getting pretty late, at least in comparison to their normal time zone, and he was sure people were starting to go to sleep. The signal at the hotel was horrible, and there was wifi but it was a struggle to find out the password. Danny had Tucker had to search for like 5 minutes going through drawers and the closet for a paper with the wifi password on it. Danny doubted there was one but Tucker was convinced. Eventually, they found it in the weirdest of places. It was in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror in the bathroom. Like, what the heck? But all the searching paid off because Tucker started downloading Netflix episodes and Danny was able to use the wifi to text Sam.

'Is alice asleep? Wanna play uno?' He asked. It only took a few seconds for her to reply.

'Sure. Come get me?" She asked.

'Yep,' Danny set his phone on the nightstand and changed to his ghost form.

"Getting Sam?" Tucker questioned. He'd been playing a game on his PDA after starting his downloads, having gotten bored of Netflix.

"Yeah." Danny replied simply before going intangible. He saw Tucker shoot him a thumbs up before he was suddenly standing in another room that was almost identical to the one he'd just left. The only differences were that the wallpaper was of roses instead of sunflowers and one of the lamps were off.

Sam was sitting up in her bed on top of the blankets and her phone in her hands. She seemed to have already changed into her pajamas, which was a pair of purple flannel pants and a black tank-top that had a pink-blue band logo that Danny didn't recognize in the center. It only took her a moment to notice Danny's arrival, and her lavender eyes peered through the dim light to lock onto Danny's own.

Danny returned to the tangible plane as Sam stood. She held a pack of Uno cards in the same hand as her phone, of which Danny hadn't noticed the first time. A smile graced Sam's face as Danny offered his hand and she took it.

Not an audible word was passed between the pair, wanting to keep Sam's roommate completely in the dark, but they each knew what the other was going to do. A chill spread over their limbs as the intangibility spread from halfa to human. Danny took a bit of pride in the fact that his friend knew how to keep herself from falling through the floor by willing herself not to. The pair did pass through the wall, but... Danny  _ might _ have miscalculated it a bit.

Tucker suddenly shrieked at having his two best friends go straight through him. Instinctively Tucker dodged to the side but ended up falling right off the bed and landing with a thud on the carpet, just barely stopping himself from bashing his head against the nightstand.

Sam couldn't help but snort at Tucker's reaction, and almost let go of Danny's hand while they were still in the bed. She didn't however and the pair were safely outside of any objects and tangible again, standing at the end of Tucker's bed just as he was sitting up. Tucker held a hand to his head and feigned malice in his eyes.

"You could at least give a guy a warning or something," Tucker said in jest. He moved his hand from checking his head to over his heart as though Danny had hurt his feelings.

"Sorry Tuck," Danny apologized. Twin rings materialized at his head and feet before coming together to his center, taking with them Phantom and leaving Fenton in their wake.

"You ok?" Sam asked as she slipped her phone into her pocket and started getting the cards out of the package. Mostly just to give her hands something to do.

"It's fine. But you'd better let me beat your butt in Uno to make up for it." Tucker directed at Danny as he got to his feet and plopped on the halfa's bed, which didn't have gadgets all over it like Tuckers' had.

"I don't need to 'let you' do that. If Sam wasn't playing you'd probably win anyways." Said Danny.

"It's the luck of the cards Danny. Guess I'm just luckier than you." Tucker shrugged smugly.

"Isn't that right." Danny snorted as he laid on the bed, reclining against the headboard. Sam sat closer to the foot of the bed, facing Danny. She started shuffling the cards before dealing them out, as normal. Danny had tried to shuffle before, but the cards just didn't bend the right way when he tried. Tucker could do it, but he said that Sam was just so much better than him at it and thus the duty fell to the goth. She flipped over the top card of the stack and the game began.

"So how is it rooming with Alice?" Danny asked, if only to get some conversation started.

"She's okay. She seems a bit down that Faith couldn't come, but she was telling me about how she brought her camera so she could get some good pictures tomorrow to show her." Sam put down a green reverse and smirked at the look Danny gave her as his turn was essentially skipped.

"Speaking of tomorrow, are you excited to see it?" Tucker asked, putting down a plus 2. He got a scowl from the halfa, who picked his two up and then had to take three more until he got a card to use.

"I know I am. It's cool to think about how it took thousands of years for the canyon to form, and it all started from a little river." Sam said, of course.

"I don't care all that much," Danny shrugged. He put down a reverse of his own and smiled oh-so-sweetly at Sam.

"It's just a big hole after all. I'm more looking forward to spending time with you two." Admitted the halfa. And it was absolutely true. He had no idea what he would do without these two. Well really he knew exactly what he  _ could _ do, but thinking about that would sour his mood so he avoided that train of thought.

"Are you sure it's not Sam that you-"

"I swear if you finish that sentence I will dye your hair in your sleep." Sam threatened. And it wasn't an empty threat, the boys knew. Danny still had nightmares about the time she dyed his hair white after he made her mad. He shuddered at the memory. Thank god his parents were so oblivious. Jazz just about had an aneurysm when he came downstairs.

"Alright, alright." Said Tucker. That seemed to settle the argument. but Sam's look was more venomous than usual when Tucker sent a plus-four wild card her way and managed to guess which color card she didn't have any of.

"At the very least this field trip is turning out better than what happened after the last one." Danny reasoned as he watched Tucker place a card.

"Hey I had fun. At least until that minion dude betrayed me." Said Tucker.

"Even if everything is kinda fuzzy..." Tucker trailed off as he scratched an itch on his arm.

"Well while you were sitting pretty and got to see Paulina in a miniskirt Danny and I didn't have nearly as much fun."

"Yeah, that was my favorite part." Tucker rested his head on his hand and looked off into space as though recalling the memory fondly. Sam scowled and knocked his arm out from under him, making Tucker yelp in surprise. Danny just laughed at his friends' antics.

"At least you didn't wake up in a gladiator arena. I think that alone knocked at least three years off my half-life expectancy." Danny retorted.

"I said I was sorry! I didn't exactly have a clear head at the time, okay?" Tucker refused to meet their eyes and had his arms wrapped around his middle. That made Sam and Danny exchange a look, feeling equally horrible at bringing it up. They were just trying to be funny, they didn't know that they'd strike a nerve. There were definitely some things they all needed to talk through but had abandoned in the moment. So much had happened since that fateful day in the lab that it was hard to keep up with. But at least they had each other.

"We're the ones who're sorry. We didn't know how you felt about it. We're just trying to joke around." Sam apologized.

"I didn't know it was a sensitive topic." Added Danny.

"Y'know, this may sound funny coming from me, but do you want to talk about it?" Danny questioned in a soft tone. Even while this happened the game went on and Tucker was in the lead.

Tucker shook his head in response.

"Nah, I'm good." Both Sam and Danny gave their friend unimpressed looks. Especially when he gave them a forced smile.

"I'm serious! Can we just forget about it for now? We're supposed to be having fun. Also, uno." Tucker grinned as he put down what had been his second to last card.

"I guess." Sam replied as she put down her plus two. Instead of looking dejected Danny just grinned. They would need to talk eventually, but that could wait until they got back to Amity.

"I'm almost sorry for this Tuck, but..." Danny put another plus two on top of Sam's.

"You can't do that, it's against the rules!" Tucker shouted indignantly.

"It's called house rules, Tucker. No one plays it the official way anyways." Sam reasoned.

"But I was so close to winning!" Tucker howled. Just like that, the mood was lifted considerably, and the game continued late into the night.

Sam won.

* * *

It was mid-day when the group of high schoolers piled off the bus, glad to finally be off of it. For at least the first half-hour or so after arriving the students were forced to follow their teacher as he rambled on about the history of the Grand Canyon. Some of what he said was interesting, but they were all itching to go off on their own.

It was edging on an hour later when the students were finally able to take in the sights without Mr. Lancer's ramblings in the background. Many of them could truly care less about the history, and just wanted to sightsee without the risk of suddenly being called on by their teacher. 

Danny, Sam, and Tucker found themselves wandering away from where most of the class had gathered. They stood in front of a short railing overlooking the gaping chasm. The sun shone brightly from above and beat down upon the excited crowd, making the warm day even hotter. Sam and Tucker stayed close to Danny, and he put out a bit of icy energy to help keep them cool. They both thanked him and Tucker even asked him to turn it up a bit because 'the sun isn't good for my electronics.' Because of course, he had to bring stuff with him. The things he did for these two, Danny thought idly. But he was happy to do it.

The yawning ravine stretched out before them was miles wide, and went on further than the human, or halfa, eye could see. It could still be seen on the horizon, extending past it. The canyon got deeper and deeper in the middle, and jagged rocks of all different colors sticking up in every direction. They added a sense of danger to the natural beauty. Waves of heat could be seen rising from the rocks, distorting the land behind them. The heat was surprising, as it was the middle of spring and still cold back in Amity Park. Numerous people took off their jackets as soon as they arrived. The trio were mesmerized by the sheer imposing size of the thing. Eventually, Sam was the first to speak.

“Wow,” She said, in awe.

“I know, right?” Danny replied, still enthralled with the sight. It was almost as impressive as seeing the stars from 300 feet in the air.  _ Almost _ .

“I wonder what it looked like a super long time ago.” Tucker wondered aloud.

“I saw a simulation of what it looked like on tv once.” Danny offered. Team Phantom made light conversation for a little while, easy in each other's company. That is, until they heard a loud shout from their right.

“Kwan!” Came the familiar voice of a familiar bully. Danny was horrified when he looked over and saw Dash on the other side of the barrier. The jock wasn’t holding onto the railing either, waving wildly at his friend. 

“Dash, you idiot! Get back over here!” Sam shouted, jogging over with her other friends at her heels. Danny felt anxious for Dash, nervously seeing his feet edge closer to the edge as he looked down the cliff. The halfa’s core wasn’t pleased either at seeing one of  _ his people  _ putting themself in danger. He found himself and his two friends at the railing behind Dash, anxiously watching him but too nervous to reach out in fear of making him topple.

“Cool, man!” Kwan shouted with a grin. He started jogging over, presumably to join Dash in what was one of the most dangerous stunts they could possibly pull on a field trip. 

But Kwan didn’t get a chance.

Dash swung around to see Kwan and found a rock underneath his foot. His grin suddenly turned to a look of horror. The pebble rolled out from underneath him and suddenly Dash was pitching backward, arms pinwheeling and grasping for the first thing in reach. Which just so happened to be a certain halfa’s t-shirt. Danny shouted in alarm as he found himself being pulled forward and over the railing. He was like half Dash’s size and the bully’s body weight easily yanked Danny back with him. Everyone around shouted as the two boys disappeared off the side of the cliff.

And so there Danny found himself. He and Dash were falling, facing what to any normal person seemed like an imminent demise. But Danny wasn’t a normal person. The rocky ground was quickly coming up to meet them and he acted without a thought. On instinct, Danny’s eyes burned neon green and he grappled, trying to get a solid hold on Dash. (Who may or may not have been screaming into his ear the entire time.)

Quick as lightning Danny flashed into ghost form and the pair found their descent slowing as Danny tried to make them level out by flying towards the deeper part of the canyon. Adrenaline rushed through Danny as he fought against gravity and dodged around rocks. Danny’s arms shook with the effort because while he may not be affected by gravity, Dash certainly was. Dash wasn’t all that heavy, but in that moment he felt as though he weighed two tons. In seconds Danny and Dash were rising, Dash clinging to Danny's lithe frame for dear life. The ground passed in a blur as Danny flew them back to the group, desperate to return Dash to solid ground. His core sung as they landed and Dash was safe, even if they got a bit scraped up in the rushed landing.

There was  _ dead _ silence as the two boys landed on the rocky ground, both falling to their butts when their legs refused to hold them. In Danny’s defense, he hadn't  _ had _ legs a moment ago. His tail disappeared as soon as they hit the rocky, but safe, ground. Every single person was frozen, from Mr. Lancer to Paulina. But none were more surprised than Dash, who seemed to gather the smallest bit of his wit to look at Danny in both awe and consternation.

“Holy fu-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not mean to make fun of anyone who actually died at the Grand Canyon, or make light of their deaths. This is simply a work of fiction.


	3. Revelations

“Danny!” Interrupted Tucker, the first one to fully come to his senses. Danny whipped around to see his two friends rushing towards him. His ghost form vanished and he sat there, dumbfounded at what he had just done. They both tackled him in a hug and that seemed to shock everyone else into motion.

“Phantom of The  _ Opera! _ ” Lancer exclaimed. He rushed over, offering Dash a hand. Dash took it and Lancer struggled to pull the boy onto his shaking feet.

“Fenton- I-” Dash began to speak but cut himself off. Danny barely heard him anyways, dealing with his friends’ concerns.

“You scared the heck out of me!” Sam said, but her words lost their menace when Danny saw the shaking in her shoulders.

“Hah! I told you all!” A certain Wes Weston shouted.

“What the hell, man?! They almost just  _ died _ .” Tucker was fuming. If looks could kill, Wes would be in the Ghost Zone by now.

“Kinda hard to do that a second time, Tuck.” Danny said with a small smile. Tucker turned his look to his best friend, but it wasn’t nearly as venomous as the one he gave Wes.

“Ok, you’re making jokes so you’re fine.” He stood abruptly,

“Well  _ excuse me, princess _ . I’m just a little in shock that I almost died the other half of the way.” Danny was truly in shock, and it seemed that the only brain cells that were sticking around in his skull were his ‘sarcasm’ and ‘weird reference’ ones. By large his brain was just refusing to compute what was happening, except for realizing that he was royally screwed, of course. No, that was very clear. Crystal.

“Okay, yep. Tucker was right.” With that, Sam stood as well and stood up. She, at least, offered Danny a hand up. 

“On a scale of one to ten how screwed am I?” Danny asked, eyes clenched shut. He refused to look at the class behind him.

“I’d say a nine, because that’s how many phones are pointing in our direction.” Tucker replied. Danny just groaned in response.

“Fen- Danny, thank-you.” Said Dash shakily. Danny lifted his gaze from Tucker’s boots to see Dash standing a few feet away, leering slightly to the left and seeming as though a slight breeze would blow him over. It was an odd look to see on the football player.

“If you haven’t noticed helping people is kinda my shtick-” Danny began to reply before Sam promptly elbowed him in the ribs.

“Danny, are you dead?” Shouted Paulina, in all her social awareness. The question hit Danny, like a shock to his nervous system. His left hand burned, the phantom pain overriding the throbbing in his ribs from being yanked over the railing. But Danny’s two brain cells fired up and he replied after just a moment.

“Only as much as Schrodinger's cat,” He shrugged, appearing nonchalant when really his brain wanted him to go curl up in a corner with a nice weighted blanket for at least a week. His core, however, felt the need to assuage his people, to relieve their concern. There were two conflicting voices trying to take over, and it was starting to give him a headache.

“That- didn’t answer my question.” Paulina said. But she didn’t get another response as more questions were asked of Danny.

“Are you ok?”

“How are you a ghost? Are you really Danny?” Asked one suspiciously.

“Will you sign something for me?!”

“Are you even human?” Questioned a classmate in a disgusted tone.

“Okay shut it all of you. In order: One, not really. I almost died a second time, what do you expect? Two, ghost portals are no joke. And of course I’m me, no ghost could copy this face. Except maybe Amorpho but that was  _ one time. _ Three, now is really not an appropriate time for that kinda thing. And four; yeah, duh. I’m just… human plus.” Danny rubbed the back of his head, feeling very awkward at everyone staring at him. So instead he turned to Dash, a ticked-off expression on his face.

“What the heck were you thinking, Dash? You almost just got us both killed. If you had grabbed anyone else you might be dead at the moment, and I don’t want to have to deal with your ghost for eternity.” Danny wanted to be angry, wanted to be furious even. But the expression on Dash’s face looked like a kicked puppy and it just made Danny feel guilty. The tension melted from his shoulders as he looked at Dash, really looked at him. His face was pale, and he had his arms wrapped around himself like he was holding on for dear life. His expression was one of pure surprise, and Danny realized what was going on just a moment too late.

“Dash!” He shouted just as the jock collapsed, eyes rolling back in his head as he fell backward into the dirt. Sam - the one of the group who had the most first-aid experience- rushed forwards into step beside Danny, both kneeling next to Dash’s prone form. Tucker stood behind them, concerned but knowing that this wasn’t exactly his area of expertise. Danny could hear him typing away, though, and presumably, he was looking up more about how to help Dash. Sam leaned in to check his breathing.

“Hey Kwan!” Danny shouted, causing the a-lister to startle. He was near the edge of the crowd which had formed around Dash, and people parted to let him get closer.

“Did Dash eat any breakfast? Has he been drinking water?” Danny asked.

“Uh- yeah, he had like three waffles. We had a competition of it. He forgot his water bottle so he’s been drinking out of mine though.” Kwan's brows were drawn, concern clear on his face.

“Mr. Lancer, I think we should get Dash back to the bus.” Sam called, fingers on Dash’s neck to check his pulse. From the short distance Danny could hear Dash’s heartbeat, and it was steadily slowing down to a more normal pace.

“He either passed out from heat or shock, and in any case it would do him good to get out of this heat.” That seemed to spur their shocked teacher into action and he leapt to take charge.

“Give them space,” He demanded, students shuffling to step back. Everyone noticeably avoided the edge, spreading out rather than getting closer to the side of the chasm. It made Danny inexplicably happy that they all avoided the danger for themselves, even when he should be distraught because Dash was  _ unconscious. _ Danny shook his head, instead trying to focus back on the situation at hand.

“Shouldn’t we leave him be until he wakes up?” Lancer looked unsteady himself, unsure what to do with a student that suddenly passed out. Sam shook her head.

“I took first aid last summer. It was likely dehydration and shock combined that made him faint, and being right in the sun laying on hot rock definitely isn’t gonna help.” Sam sighed.

“Danny, can you carry him?” She asked, suddenly looking Danny’s way. His first instinct was to deny, to say there was no way he could physically carry someone twice his size. But they had all seen him carry Dash minutes ago, so that was a lost cause. Everyone was staring at Danny again, as though they had realized he was there again. This had all gone much more haywire than Danny had expected.

“Could you all please stop recording? I have my reasons.” He shouted, addressing his fellow students. Danny didn’t dare comment on what exactly it was he had his “reasons” for, in case none of them caught the incident itself and were only getting the aftermath. Everyone seemed surprised to be addressed, and many phones were hurriedly shoved into pockets and bookbags. It was only after the last one disappeared that Danny slipped his arms under Dash’s knees and neck. With minimal effort, Danny hauled Dash into his arms. Murmurs of surprise spread throughout the crowd, but Danny tried his best to ignore them. Sam started off for the bus, Tucker and Danny in toe behind her. Soon enough everyone followed and Mr. Lancer took the lead. The group was surprisingly somber, partially because the closer they got to the bus the more people there were, people that could easily overhear any conversation. Danny dreaded what would happen once they got onto the bus. How would they all be traumatized by what happened? How many of them would have nightmares that they were the one who tumbled over the edge?

Dash didn’t stir during the entire trek, which both concerned and relieved Danny. Relieved, because he didn’t have to deal with Dash waking up to being carried, and concerned because it was never a good thing when people who fainted stayed out for very long. But his breathing and heartbeat remained constant, so Danny tried to concentrate at least a little on trying not to trip over his untied shoelaces. Part of him wanted to say to heck with it, transform and fly Dash to the bus. But there was no good way that could end, so he stumbled along. 

Danny stood in the middle of his classmates, so as to shield Dash from any prying eyes. They clambered onto the bus and Danny claimed a seat in the front of the bus for Dash, laying him across it. Danny took the seat right behind where Dash laid, keeping a wary eye on him. Danny couldn’t hear his heartbeat now, but his breathing was regular. The bus was hot, and Mr. Lancer went to start up the AC. He had an extra set of keys, although the bus driver was nowhere to be seen. Probably in the gift shop or the bathroom. As the door closed behind the last person who boarded all eyes turned to Danny. He really didn’t want to have to deal with this. He just wanted to go home, to curl up under his covers and forget that any of this had happened. But his bed was currently hundreds of miles away, so that wasn’t exactly an option. Luckily for Danny, he had a pair of awesome friends.

“Okay,” Sam started, taking charge.

“You guys aren’t all going to mob him, get it? We’re gonna do this in an organized way. One question per person, so make it count. Only talk when one of us calls on you, get it?” Sam ordered. Tucker stationed himself in the aisle seat next to Danny, and Sam in the seat behind them. All of their classmates took their seats and no one said it should be done any other way, so the questions began.

“How are you Phantom? Did you replace the real Danny?” Asked Star. Danny sighed.

“Somebody already asked that one. But yes, I’m actually me. I’ve always been Danny and always will be. There was an accident in my parents’ lab that I’d really not like to elaborate on. Also before you ask, no, they have no idea.” No one spoke, but Danny could see the uneasy looks on his classmates’ faces.

“I didn’t die, I promise. I’m still alive. That sounds like something a dead person would say but I promise it’s the truth.“ Numerous hands were still in the air and Danny pointed at Sarah, a strawberry-blonde girl who was practically jumping up and down.

“Can you change into Phantom for us? Or show us ghosty stuff?” Sarah gasped.

“Can you really fly?” She finished off, stars in her eyes. It… kinda weirded Danny out a bit, to be honest. A glance at their faces showed that Sam and Tucker thought the same. Honestly, he should’ve expected somebody would ask, though. Resigning himself to his fate, Danny transformed. One moment Danny Fenton was sitting in a bus seat, wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt, the next Danny Phantom sat in his place, wearing a suit with his infamous emblem splayed across his chest. Black to white and blue to green. It was quite a stark contrast.

As soon as the rings disappeared everyone seemed to lose their minds. Many clambered over seats and friends alike to get a closer look at Danny, and it made him really want to turn invisible. No one would blame him if he did, would they? She had asked to see ghostly stuff. With a bit of a smirk, Danny stood, so as to be in full view, then vanished in the blink of an eye. He floated out of his seat slightly, mostly so that he could watch for everyone’s reactions.

“What the hell?” Shouted Mia, looking around wildly. Danny watched as they all wondered where he’d gone, but the concerned looks on both Sam and Tuckers’ faces encouraged him to return to the visible plane. Danny couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“You should’ve seen your faces.” He chuckled. He always felt more confident in ghost form, and seeing how nobody clambered to get away from him he was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, he could actually handle this.

“You did ask for something ghostly after all, and that is like the most passive thing I can do.” Danny said almost offhandedly. The stares continued, but that was to be expected. At least people were trying to get closer, seemingly content with watching him from their seats. Danny suddenly realized how high he’d floated. He could almost reach the ceiling if he stuck a hand up. He floated himself down slightly and chose to sit on the back of the seat.

“Mikey?” Danny asked, inviting the nerd to speak.

“Where do the ghosts come from?” he asked, curious. That was an easy one.

“As sci-fi as it sounds they’re from another dimension called the Ghost Zone, or as the ghosts call it, the Infinite Realms. It’s where everything was taken that day when there was a shield over the entire city. Some come through by natural portals.” Danny didn’t really know how much they knew about the portal in his basement, so he tried to skirt around it with the mention of natural portals.

Tucker called on Kwan next.

“Thank-you for saving Dash.” He said in a quiet voice. The mood swiftly changed with his expression of gratitude. It reminded everyone what had just happened, stealing away the almost jovial atmosphere and replacing it with something akin to horror. This wasn’t a game, two of their classmates could have  _ died. _ It wasn’t like a ghost attack, where they all knew Phantom would swoop in and save the day. If Dash had grabbed anyone other than Danny, or even nobody at all, he could have very well fallen to his death before anyone could react. If Danny hadn’t been who he was, they would both be nothing but splatters at the bottom of a ravine.

And that scared them. They faced death head-on just about every day of their lives, but never in this way. Instead of death screaming in their faces about boxes, it had almost stolen away two of their classmates.

Dash, of course, chose that moment to wake.


End file.
